"Alright. Someone, please get this lovely lady one of our village's dress!" ordered the village elder in a hasty tone as he stomped his walking cane against the living room wooden floor.
"Yes, Sir!" one of the village elder's aid complied immediately, before rushing out of the meeting area.
"Elder Wade, which homes in the village have not been invaded yet? Since we are using the young Miss as bait, it would be best to switch her with someone that has not been abducted," inquired the older hunter.
"Sir, I have a young daughter and a wife at home. My daughter is still a child, but my wife should be around the same age as the young Miss," the second village elder's aid said with respect hoping that his way of wording would curry favor with the elder hunter.
Artemis rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed at the shameless middle-aged villager sudden change of attitude. "There's no need to call me young Miss. Young Miss is only a title given to me by the hunters in our organization. Everyone is free to call me Artemis," the young female hunter suggested with an indifferent tone.
The middle-aged villager wanted to displayed a slight unsettling expression, but instead he shifted his lips into a forced smiled as he looked at the young female hunter. He saw the young lady as a disrespectful brat with poor manners. If he was deathly afraid of her older companion, he would not tolerate such behavior from someone younger than he was.
Ignoring the forced mannerism of the village aid the old hunter continued with the main discussion. "We should avoid endangering any little ones with this matter. Are there any other females that the young Miss can replace?" he recommended before asking again.
"Our lumberjack, Cain has a young daughter that is also about the same age as the young lady. Maybe Miss Artemis can trade places with her?" the heroic father suggested next.
"That would be better. I believe the main targets are single woman, even though some married have been abducted, the assailant probably didn't realize they were entangled already," responded the older hunter as he rubbed at his hairy chin.
"To think my dear granddaughter and the other women of our village were abducted because of their identity as an unwedded woman," the village elder said with a heavy heart as he released a lifeless sigh.
"I believed its more likely that they were abducted, due to the fact each victim was physically pure. Since all of the missing females were sexually violated, according to their medical reports," the young female hunter assumed in response.
"I believe the young Miss is correct. For the best results, we should station the young Miss at the home of someone closer to her profile," replied the older hunter.
"It will be nighttime in a few hours, so Nate after the young Miss change into one of our village's dress, can you show both of our guests to Cain's household?" the village elder kindly asked the middle-age man, whom was standing to his right.
"Yes, sir," the heroic father graciously accepted the elder's command, then turned to the demon hunter pair. "Mister Bruce and Miss Artemis, I'm ready whenever you two are ready to leave."
"Okay," replied Bruce, while Artemis just nodded in agreement.
Now that everyone was on board with the demon hunters' plan, all the villagers except for the heroic father, Nate, and the village elder's second aid were released to returned to their homes. The village hunter was the first one to storm out of the village elder's home. He was the only one that still thought that his idea was reasonable, but he remained quiet as the rest of the village council discussed the proposed counter strategy of the self-proclaim 'demon hunters'.
When everyone noticed the village hunter leaving quickly in anger, they assumed he was still fuming over his head to head battle with the two demon hunters. He was a prideful and arrogance man and the two disregard him as a hunter.
The villagers assumption was indeed true, since he was fuming with anger, at how everyone was being deceived by these supposedly 'demon hunters'. He was so unmoving in his stance, until he was threatened by the older hunter. His mouth was shut tightly by the older hunter due to his imposing aura.
However, this was only a brief surrender. For some people, one has to fall first before they truly understand how incompetent they really are.
At this time, as the village council members were leaving, the head village elder's aid finally returned with a few village dresses for the young female hunter. The aid weaved passed the few villagers that were leaving before he could reach the meeting hall.
"Artemis, here are a few of our village dresses. I was not sure of your size, so I asked around and collected some dresses in different sizes," the village elder's aid said in an almost whisper before handing over a pile of dress. He was so drain of oxygen from running through the village that his voice was as weak as a whisper.
Artemis nodded and accepted the handful of dresses with a smile.
"Eleanor, dear!" the village elder called out once the young female hunter was in possession of a few dresses.
A moment later a young woman, maybe in her early thirties, gracefully strolled into the living room. "Yes, father," spoke the young women in a soft and loving voice.
"The young Miss needs to change her clothes. Can you let her change in your room? Also give her one of your amulet to wear," instructed the village elder.
"Yes, father," she said then turned to look at the seated young lady. "Young Miss, please follow me," suggested the young woman as she hold out her hand to gesture Artemis to follow her down a hallway.
Artemis sighed. She had already told the old man and the others to just call her Artemis. Well either way was fine. It would be a waste of words for her to continuously correct each and every person.
Eventually, the older woman led Artemis to a bedroom. The room was decorated with many handmaid furniture and everything in the room was very clean and well organized.
"You can change here, my dear. Oh, and wear this once you finished getting dress," advised Eleanor as she placed a rhodochrosite gem amulet on the night stand.
Artemis tilted her head to the side when she saw the stone. "Do your village mine these are purchase them?"
"We mine them. The larger pieces we used them to make elixirs, while the smaller pieces we turn them into jewelry. Every female in the village wears them. When we are low in certain supplies, we sell our elixirs and other crafts in the open town market," the young woman answered honestly.
"Elixirs? What are the properties of these elixirs?" Artemis asked out of pure curiosity.
"Rhodochrosite crystals have great heal properties. Consuming a drop of the elixir can help with all types of ailments internally. The stone can also be used for externally proposes too. Water that has been exposed to the crystals can also help with skin irritation," explained the young woman while touching the amulet around her neck.
"Interesting. These gems are very valuable than. Are you sure I can borrow such a precious stone?" responded Artemis.
"Yes. You are welcome to have this amulet as a 'Thank You' gift for your help," the young woman quickly offered with delight.
Artemis looked over at the amulet briefly. She was not the type of girl, who liked to wear any type of jewelry. She felt that their purpose was unnecessary and uncomfortable to wear. However, Mrs. Eleanor was offering the stone to her to show her appreciation. It would be rude to reject such a gift, so she decided to accept her offer. She could even gift it to her mother later on.
Artemis' eyes glance back over at the older lady in front of her and gave her a nod in agreement.
It did not take her long to change out of her hunter attire and into one of the village dresses. She felt a bit uncomfortable in the dress, since she had not worn a dress since her early childhood. She took a few deep breaths and reminded herself that she was wearing it for a mission and not to show off how beautiful she was. After hooking the stone amulet around her neck, she opened the bedroom door and walked out to find Mrs. Eleanor.